Increasing the Value of Research: A Comparison of the Literature on Critical Success Factors for Projects, IT Projects and Enterprise Resource Planning Projects

Abstract

Since the beginning of modern project management in the 1960s, academic researchers have sought to identify a definitive list of Critical Success Factors (CSFs), the key things that project managers must get right in order to deliver a successful product. With the advent of Information Technology (IT) projects and, more recently, projects to deliver Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, attention has turned to identifying definitive lists of CSFs for these more specific project types. The purpose of this paper is to take stock of this research effort by examining how thinking about each type of project has evolved over time, before producing a consolidated list of CSFs for each as a basis for comparison. This process reveals a high degree of similarity, leading to the conclusion that the goal of identifying a generic list of CSFs for project management has been achieved. Therefore, rather than continuing to describe lists of CSFs, researchers could increase the value of their contribution by taking a step forward and focusing on why, despite this apparent knowledge of how to ensure their success, ERP projects continue to fail.

Implementation and Unification of the ERP System in a Global Company as a Strategic Decision for Sustainable Entrepreneurship

“…This company transparency and possible acquisition activities with integration of the purchased companies, or the sale of a part of the company (e.g., production lines or companies in a specific geographical region), or the sale of the whole company, are important from a managerial perspective and from the investors perspective [24]. Therefore, a unified ERP system, despite the implementation costs, substantially increases a company's value because of transparency and reduced operational threats [25].…”

“…The parameters that influence the implementation decision of a unified ERP system include the company's turnover, number of employees, number of products, number of countries where the company is represented, and mainly the company's long-term strategy [22,26]. Maddison Warren [25] noted if the strategy is aggressive or ambitious, the unification and implementation of the ERP system is an unavoidable step. Venkatraman and Fahd, highlight that implementation of the ERP system is considered an important strategy to establish new robust accounting practices, to improve the company survival rate [24].…”

“…Enterprise Resource Planning systems introduce software tools to manage business data. ERP systems help businesses with the supply chain, receipt of materials, warehouse management, acceptance of orders from customers, production planning, shipment of goods, accounting, human resources management, and other business roles and activities [25,28].…”

“…The reason is that each of these departments generally has its own information system that is optimized for their specific needs. The ERP system joins together all the IT Systems, into one integrated program that forms a database [25]. Therefore, all the departments can quickly and easily share information and maintain communication [27].…”

A Framework to Evaluate Project Complexity Using the Fuzzy TOPSIS Method

“…Managing project complexity is known to be a success factor in modern project management [1]. Complex projects require unique project governance and management to adapt to interconnectedness and communication with, and control over, the different stakeholders [2]. Today, the problem with the failure of business projects and entities is a very current topic in the economy [3,4].…”